King & Spalding has advised Total System Services, Inc. (“TSYS”), a leading outsourced payment services company, on the acquisition of the 49-percent interest in First National Merchant Solutions (“FNMS”) held by First National Bank of Omaha (“FNBO”). The acquisition gives TSYS full ownership of the FNMS joint venture that was initially formed by TSYS and FNBO in April 2010, with TSYS acquiring the remaining 49-percent of FNMS for approximately $169.6 million. The transaction closed January 1, 2011.

First National Merchant Solutions, which will be re-branded as TSYS Merchant Solutions, offers transaction processing, merchant support, credit underwriting, risk management and value-added services, as well as Visa®- and MasterCard®-branded prepaid cards for businesses of any size. It is currently ranked as the 10th largest merchant acquirer in the United States.

For more information, The TSYS press release can be found here.

The King & Spalding legal team advising on the transaction consisted of the following lawyers:

Corporate

John J. Kelley III (partner, Atlanta)

Mark E. Thompson (partner, London and New York)

C. Spencer Johnson III (associate, Atlanta)

Brandon T. White (associate, Atlanta)

Tax

James H. Lokey Jr. (partner, Atlanta)

Intellectual Property

W. Scott Petty (partner, Atlanta)

Real Estate

Brent S. Gilfedder (associate, Atlanta)

Antitrust

Jeff S. Spigel (partner, Washington)

Brian R. Meiners (associate, Washington)